Doctor Who: Paradox
by NemesisNexus
Summary: Arriving on a research facility, the Doctor discovers Moira, a young girl with who cannot remember who she is or how she got there. However, it soon becomes apparent that there is more to Moria than meets the eye. Complete-15/05/09
1. Chapter 1

All she could see were brilliant colours surrounding her, blues, greens, yellows. Her own screams of pain echoed around her as the pain seared through her hands, flowing though the rest of her body. She could have let go, could have stopped the pain, but she knew she couldn't. It wasn't option.

"Moira!" A shout echoed around her, she hadn't even realised he was still here. Or, rather, that she was still there. She looked in to his wide brown eyes, that kind face, twisted in to a look of desperation.

"Don't!" She shouted, seeing the figure hold a hand out, a silver tube pointing towards her. "Don't you dare!"

Everything was becoming brighter now, her body overcome by a strange sensation, as if she was slowly fading away. Looking behind her, it was the room that was fading away, the people that had been around her. And he was fading away from her too. She was feeling drained and was trying her best to focus on keeping hold. It had to be almost over now.

"Doctor!" She shouted, his face becoming nothing but a blur. "Thank you!"

**

Doctor Who Paradox

**

The TARDIS door creaked open as a slightly shaken Doctor stepped out, adjusting his coat over his shoulders.

"Well," He said, turning to the TARDIS as he closed the door, turning the key in the lock. "That was a bit unexpected old girl." He looked at his new surroundings, brand new, shiny surroundings. "Not that I'm complaining of course." He beamed, gazing around. Shiny certainly was the right word. The floor beneath his trainers was a silver mesh, not dissimilar from that of his own TARDIS, partially covering a spaghetti of wires and pipes. The walls too, were a brilliant silver, reflecting the light from above. Quite a low ceiling, the Doctor noted as he looked back at the TARDIS. The light that adorned it's roof was almost touching the ceiling. He raised an eyebrow slightly, relieved that he hadn't materialised anywhere a little lower. Without a functioning chameleon circuit to change it's external dimensions, the Doctor wasn't entirely sure what would happen if the TARDIS appeared in a space smaller than it's own physical size. "Must test that one day." He said quietly to himself.

The Doctor soon set off down the corridor, slightly weary. He had no idea where he was, or who might be around. That was the one disadvantage of the TARDIS' sudden trips to random places in the universe. At least it hadn't landed him in the middle of a volcano. Not this time anyway.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, rushing over to a computer screen imbedded in the wall of the corridor. The Doctor reached for his Sonic Screwdriver, but stopped as an image appeared on the screen. It showed a large dome, floating in space. Arching over the transparent dome were wide silver bands, presumably holding the different sections of material together. The image rotated on the screen, as the Doctor placed his Screwdriver back in to his pocket and pulled out his glasses instead. He pressed the screen with his finger, and the image zoomed in through the dome. No buildings inside as such, he noted. The various corridors and rooms that he scrolled past were all directly inside the dome structure. At first he had thought it may be some kind of colony, but they were normally set out like a traditional city, with simulated air, gardens, little shops. This was different, much more functional, nothing wasted on aesthetics.

Suddenly, the screen flashed red, large text appearing in the centre.

ANOMOLY DETECTED

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed, wondering if the system had discovered the TARDIS. "A little late." He muttered, touching the screen again. A red dot had flashed up on the maze of corridors. "Maybe not." He answered himself. If his sense of direction was right, and of course, it was, the TARDIS had materialised in the other direction. Which meant that this was something new, something that needed investigating.

Just in time, he was starting to get bored.

**

"Officer Jaran Sir," The security guard addressed his superior, whose uniform matched his own, a deep blue, except his sleeves were adorned with a single red stripe. "I've run a deeper scan, and it appears there's something else here, something that the system didn't pick up."

"Forget about it Ortel." Jaran barked as the pair made their way down the corridor. "Probably a glitch, you know how the system's been lately. We deal with what it _has_ detected first."

"Yes Sir." Ortel nodded, returning the small square device to his pocket. "Were there any details on the report?"

"If there were, I'd have told you." His tone was aggressive, with a tone of annoyance. A tone that most of the guards had become used to from Jaran. "You know these scanners are minimal. The entire budget went on those temporal systems, or what ever it is Haim calls them. You know his philosophy; as long as they can study their big crack in time, it's fine. God forbid we actually have systems in place to look after him and his precious researchers."

Ortel sighed as the corridor was filled with silence once again, the only noise from their heavy boots on the mesh flooring. He could tell it was going to be a long day.

**

She looked up, blinking a little as the light shone straight in her eye. Instinctively, she reached to her neck, although she was unsure what for. A sense of unexplained relief swept over her and she felt a cold metal rectangle on a chain. It was rather thick, for a necklace anyway but seemed rather light. She looked at her hands, alive with a strange tingling sensation. They seemed to be marked, think lines burnt in to the skin. However, she had bigger things to worry about right now, like where she was. And who she was.

The silver corridors seemed familiar to her, but she was unsure why. To be honest, she was unsure of everything right now. She suddenly tensed up as a sound of footsteps echoed from around the corner. Subconsciously, she straightened her white top. Very plain, she thought, as was the long flowing skirt she wore.

"Why did I even choose this?" She said softly to herself, slightly shocked by the sound of her own voice, a sense of shock that she couldn't quite find a reason for. For the first time she noticed her pale blonde hair. It was rather long, flowing down to beneath her shoulders. Why did it seem so new? How could everything be so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time?

The girl didn't have time to ponder her questions, however, as the footsteps became louder and a tall, skinny man wandered around the corner, a small silver device held out in front of him. His focus seemed to be on that, rather than where he was going, his eyes staring through his glasses at the glowing blue light at the tip of the wand. It would have been a puzzling sight, if it hadn't had been so familiar.

Suddenly, the man looked up, pressing a button, which appeared to turn the device off. He looked up, surprised as he clocked her, before walking forward, placing both the device and glasses in the pocket of his long brown coat.

"Hello!" He grinned. "I'm the;"

"The Doctor." She interrupted. She hadn't meant to, something had just compelled her. "You're the Doctor."

"Er, yes, I am." He replied cautiously, struck by an uncharacteristically wave of uncertainty. "And how do you know that? Slight psychic ability?" He looked up thoughtfully, interrupting the girl before she had a chance to speak. "Haven't met you in the future have I? My future, I mean? You wouldn't believe how often that happens."

"I don't think so." The girl replied quietly, visibly un-nerved by the Doctor, and her own knowledge of him. He was looking down at his own suit and coat now, curiously.

"I'm not wearing a name tag, am I? Always forget to take those things off. Well, not that I wear them much anymore. Had a bad experience once." She was staring at him, her expression one of confusion and annoyance all in one. "Slitheen, electric name tags, long story." He shrugged. "So, let's just ignore the fact you seem to know me. Your turn to introduce yourself! And I'll let you. Certainly don't know your name."

The girl looked back nervously. Who was this Doctor? He was so odd, so erratic, yet so familiar.

"I don't…" She started, when a voice flashed in to her mind.

"_Moira!"_

"I'm Moira." She said, attempting to sound as confident as she could.

"Nice to meet you Moira." The Doctor smiled. He too, was attempting to make it as genuine as possible, but something was bothering him. Did she know him? She knew his name, but apparently hadn't immediately recognised him. Maybe it was some kind of latent psychic ability. The Doctor just hoped it was that simple. "So, how did you get here?"

"That's what we want to know." Barked the voice of Officer Jaran as he and Ortel walked down the corridor towards them.

"Well, I'm the Doctor, and,"

"It's her we are interested in." Jaran snapped. "You're just some kind of researcher, no doubt. We don't care about what you're doing here."

"Makes a change." The Doctor smiled, looking over to Moira. She hadn't made an attempt to answer the question. Did she even know?

It appeared that the security officer's patience had run out.

"You're coming with us." He barked, stepping towards Moira as his partner walked to her other side. "I'll take you straight to Haim. He likes mysterious happenings like this. A young girl appearing out of nowhere would be just up his street. Although he'll probably just say it's because of that crack in time. It always is after all."

"Hold on!" The Doctor shouted, rather surprised. "A crack in time?"


	2. Chapter 2

**

The domed construct floated in space, suspended completely still, as if hanging by a wire. This particular area of space was apparently empty; there had never been any record of any planets even being there. The only thing that had been detected, however, was a large

time anomaly, attracting teams of researchers determined to find out what it was, and for some, how to harness it's power. After decades of work though, nothing significant had been discovered. The scanners, positioned on the outside of the dome, were designed to only focus on the area that the anomaly had been detected. After all, its location had never changed.

This of course, meant that they did not pick up on the sudden distortion in time-space around the domed station as multiple creatures suddenly came in to existence. The first to appear turned its attention on the floating dome, stretching out its wide wings, each with three long sharp spikes extending from them, and swinging its scythe like tail in an arc. It let out a roar as it flew towards the dome, several other creatures following behind it.

**

The walk through the corridors hadn't been particularly enlightening. This officer, Jaran, wasn't willing to divulge any details about the lab, or whatever it was, that they were in. Part of the Doctor was kicking himself for breaking the illusion that he was a researcher. He's tried pushing for more information, but Jaran really didn't seem the type for chat. The Doctor had even tried his junior officer, but he was soon silenced. So far all the Doctor knew was that there were people here, humans, if these security officers were anything to go by, researching a 'crack in time'. That's how Jaran had described it, but the Doctor knew it was more complicated than that. For one, if they were located on this 'crack', which was implied, what was stopping them from being pulled straight in? Hopefully this Haim that they were being taken to see would be more generous with his answers.

At least that would be one mystery answered anyway, he thought, his gaze landing on Moira. She seemed so unsure about everything, even her own name, yet she still knew it. Perhaps some kind of amnesia? No, that wouldn't explain how she knew his name. He'd encountered situations like this before, he was bound to with the amount of travelling through time he did, but those people usually remembered how they knew him; even if they wouldn't tell him. He liked to pretend that after all this time he could completely understand all of the temporal laws, and their implications but he had to admit to himself that it was all just a bit timey-wimey, even to him.

"Wait here." Jaran barked, as they arrived at a large silver door. He turned to Ortel as he keyed in a series of numbers in to a keypad. "Keep an eye on them."

"Yes sir." Ortel nodded, as the door opened and his superior entered the room. As the door closed, the Doctor turned to Moira.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She snapped. "I don't need looking after."

The Doctor looked rather taken aback. "Sorry! When a young girl appears from no where with no memories of how, a less than intact identity and knowledge of stuff they shouldn't know, I just get a bit protective."

"That's happened before then, has it?" Moira glared at the Doctor, obviously not impressed.

"Well," he rubbed his chin, "a few times. Once or twice." She was still looking at him, eyebrows raised. "Ok, once."

"Including now?"

"Ok, yes," The Doctor sighed, giving up. "Once, including now. So no, it hasn't happened before." He paused for a moment. "Not for me, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped, looking over to Ortel. He seemed to have no problems with the pair talking between themselves, and was even a little entertained by their bickering. He seemed so different from Jaran and somehow, she knew she could trust him.

"Nothing." The Doctor replied, shaking his head. "It's nothing."

"I give up with you!" Moira snapped at him, holding her hands up in front of her in frustration.

"Moira." The Doctor said suddenly, very seriously. "What happened to your hands?"

She looked at her palms again, having forgotten the strange marks burnt in to them.

"I don't know." She admitted quietly. "Just like everything else. I just don't know!"

"You know some things." The Doctor said sympathetically, leaning back against the cold silver wall. "Why don't we just start from there?" A thought flashed in to the Doctor's head. He could very easily find out what she knew, perhaps solve her entire mystery, by looking in to her mind. However, he soon thought better of it. Their relationship wasn't a great one, and she was bound to fight him, something that could have severe consequences on both of their minds.

"I just have this feeling," She started, "just something telling me that I have something to do. That I'm here for a purpose." The Doctor leant forward, intrigued, as the door beside him slid open.

"Go in." Jaran ordered. "You have an audience with Haim himself. I hope you like theories behind time and space and that rubbish."

"Well, now you mention it," The Doctor beamed, "I do!"

**

"Mr Haim, I presume?" The Doctor waved cheerily, as he and Moira entered the room. The man looking back at him was nothing like the Doctor had imagined. Maybe his hundreds of years of travelling had prejudiced him a little, but he had expected an angry looking man, outraged that anyone had dared trespass inside his complex. Instead, Haim appeared delighted to see new people.

"Yes!" He smiled, rushing forward to shake the Doctor's hand. He reached for Moira's, but she pulled back. "Please ignore Officer Jaran," Haim said with a chuckle. "He's never happy unless he's unhappy about something. If that makes any sense."

"It does, in a way." The Doctor grinned, nodding quickly. This was going to be easier than he thought. "So Mr Haim, can you tell me where exactly we are?"

"Certainly!" He replied, leading the Doctor and Moira towards a large sofa in one corner of his office. The pair followed, the Doctor observing all of the various diagrams on the wall, whilst Moira remained indifferent, deep in thought. "I would ask you how you got here," Haim remarked as his guests sat down, the Doctor stretching his arms out across the back of the sofa, whilst Moira sat away from him. "But I assume it's just something to do with the Time Rift. Happens every now and again. Objects falling through, that kind of thing. Never a person before though!" His voice was full of enthusiasm. "Now, I'll do what I can to explain to you, and of course, do my best to get you back to where you came from."

The Doctor had a large grin on his face. It seemed rather rare that he materialised somewhere and someone hadn't tried to kill him, let alone be this nice. As soon as he had spoken, the Doctor had decided that he could trust Haim.

"I'll be honest with you Mr. Haim."

"Geoffrey."

"I'll be honest with you Geoffrey." The Doctor smiled. "I didn't come through your Time Rift. My ship bought me here." He saw the puzzled look on Haim's face. "Moira here, however," He gestured, "It's quite possible that she did fall through."

"Will you stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" She snapped at the Doctor, who held his arms up in defence.

"Sorry, just trying to help. Again." He didn't pause to let her speak and turned to Haim instead. "Anyway, what exactly is this place? What do you know about this Rift?" The mans' face lit up again with the chance to talk about his project. He stood up, heading towards a large monitor on the wall. After pressing a few buttons the image that the Doctor had seen earlier appeared.

"This," Haim said proudly, pointing at the schematic of the dome, "is Temporal Anomaly Research Facility One, codename Kali."

"Hindu Goddess of Time." The Doctor pondered. "Nice." Haim smiled at his observation.

"The facility was built to research a large rift in the space-time continuum that had been observed for many years prior to the construction of Kali. From here, our large research team conduct experiments, monitor output from the rift and study it."  
"Why?" The Doctor asked, leaning forward in his seat. He looked to Moira, who was staring down at her lap obviously uninterested. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well," Haim replied, slightly taken aback. "why not? If we can work out the mechanics of the Rift, who knows what we could achieve in the future? He pressed a button on the screen as the image panned out, the diagram of the facility fading way, leaving a large fissure in the space, shimmering with a golden glow, "And even if we can't, isn't something so beautiful, so wondrous, worth studying just for the sake of it?"

The Doctor leapt to his feet, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Brilliant! You always come through, don't you!" He beamed, almost gliding across the floor towards Haim. "Humans and their curiosity! It's there, let's study it! Brilliant!" He shook Haims' hand. "Just one question though, how does the facility just float there, around this Rift? If I know time rifts, and trust me, I do, it's quite likely that the whole place would have been sucked in by now, scattered throughout time. Like a big dome shaped jigsaw puzzle." He stroked one side of his face thoughtfully. "Big old jigsaw puzzle. Although, you probably wouldn't find the last piece down the back of the sofa." He paused again. "Maybe Ancient Greece."

"Well," Haim smiled, there it was, that look of pride again. "This whole facility is kept in place by the Time Core."

"Time Core?" The Doctor asked inquisitively.

"Salvaged from alien technology that was discovered across the galaxy decades ago. We think it may have once been used to travel through time, but we modified it in order to keep the facility stable in time."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, glancing back to Moira, who was looking up at him now. "Isn't it just a little bit exciting?" He asked her enthusiastically. "Something new? Something you don't understand? Not even a little bit?" He held his thumb and finger out, holding them close together. "Not even a tiny little bit?"

"It's not new." Moira said quietly. "It's as if I know what's going to happen, but not until it does. It doesn't even make sense!" The Doctor noticed that her voice was cracking a little as he sat back down next to her.

I know it doesn't." He said quietly. "And it doesn't make sense to me either. But it will." He looked her straight in the eye. "I promise, it will make sense."

The moment was interrupted as the door slid open and a young woman rushed in. She was wearing the same uniform as Haim, brown, with a red stripe on the arm. Her hair was blonde, slightly brighter than Moiras' and much shorted.

"Leslie!" Haim exclaimed. "Doctor, Moira, allow me to introduce Lieutenant Leslie Corl!"

Corl looked at the pair, before turning back to Haim.

"Geoffrey, we have a problem. A rather big problem."

"What is it?" He asked. "The scanners haven't detected any activity from the Rift?"

The Doctor was standing with them now.

"Then what is it? Any ideas?"

"I asked for video footage to be relayed from the secondary orbital sensors to this office." She explained, pressing buttons on the front of the large screen. Moments later, the image changed to an external view of the dome, presumably, the Doctor thought, from small satellites observing the dome.

"This footage is from around ten minutes ago." Corl said as the Doctor watched intently.

"What? I don't see anythi-" He was cut off by a odd flash on the screen, as a creature seemingly folded in to existence.

"No." The Doctor shook his head. "No no no." More of the creatures were appearing on the screen, their wings spread wide, tails whipping frantically. "It can't be? Why would they be here?"

"What are they Doctor?" Haim asked.

"Reapers." Moira answered, getting to her feet, "They are called Reapers."

"Well," The Doctor shrugged, "they're not really called anything." Moira shot him a look. "But they have been known as Reapers, yes."

"That's just a name. What are they?" Haim asked again.

"That doesn't matter right now." The Doctor said with a sudden realization. "You said that this feed was from ten minutes ago." He watched as the screen showed the creatures charging in to the surface of the Dome. "And ten minutes is plenty of time for them to-"

The Doctor was stopped as the whole facility shook, sending everyone in the room crashing to the floor. Alarms started to sound as the communication equipment buzzed in to life, messages, and calls for help, coming from all over the dome.

"Plenty of time for them to break through!" The Doctor shouted over the commotion.


	3. Chapter 3

The Reapers crashed in to the walls of the dome, screeching wildly as they slashed with their tails and spiked wings, quickly hacking away at the glass-like surface with a feral rage.

"What the hell are those things?" Ortel yelled from the other side of the glass, watching as the temporal beasts smashed in to the dome, recoiling slightly before attempting again and again and again.

"How should I know?" Jaran snapped. "Something to do with whatever they are researching no doubt. For the greater good of mankind!" He scoffed. "I fail to see how these things can help mankind!"

"Sir!" Ortel said nervously, "The dome. It's starting to give way."

"Nonsense." Jaran dismissed. "Nothing can get through."

"Tell them that!" Ortel cried, pointing up at the slight imperfection that had appeared on the curved surface above them. The reaper in question roared triumphantly, looking down at its prey with, Ortel thought, a look of glee on its' twisted beastial face.

Jaran looked up too, his heart sinking as he saw the crack Ortel was referring too. Impervious, he had been told when he started work here all those years ago. Nothing can get in, apart from through the air-locks. His job was to keep an eye on the staff, and anything that may happen to fall through time and end up in the facility. And that is what he had done. For over twenty years, he had dealt with staff who had decided some of the equipment in the labs would be worth a good deal of credits on the black market, retrieved and quarantined useless artefacts from history that had slipped in to the facility, but he had never dealt with anything like this before. And now, for the first time, looking up at the enraged beasts attempting to crash their way through the dome, Jaran was scared.

But not for himself. He looked to his side, to where Ortel was standing. The young man showed so much promise. He had done ever since he had been assigned to security. Jaran admired that, it would have been so easy to have just given up, given the circumstances. Ortel had volunteered to work at the facility with the hope of becoming a researcher, a scientist. But after taking the aptitude test, he had been assigned the role of junior security officer. It must have been a blow, Jaran knew that. Yet Ortel had never mentioned it since, he just threw himself in to the job at hand, concentrating on doing the best he could. And now it appeared it was going to end like this.

"Sir!" Ortel said loudly, snapping the older man from his thoughts. He looked up again, at the ever growing crack above them. Jaran knew what was coming next, so there was only one option.

"Run!"

**

"They've breached the hull!" Corl screamed as she climbed to her feet, glancing to a read out on a near by monitor.

"I could have told you that!" The Doctor gasped, brushing down his suit. "All intact. Moira?" He looked around. "You ok?"

"Never better." She replied drolly, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you stop fussing over me and get the shields online?"

The Doctor paused, his face very serious. Did she even realise that she was doing it now?

"Right then!" He turned quickly towards the console that Corl and Haim were standing at. "I'm assuming you've got some shields?"

"Yes." Haim replied, shaking. "But,"

"Yes, I know." The Doctor said impatiently. "The Reapers will be inside. And that's not good. I know that better than anyone else. But if we can get the shields up, then at least we stand some chance of keeping some air in here! Then we can worry about not being killed by the Reapers!"

"I'd forgotten about that." Haim replied sheepishly, blushing a little as Cowl placed a comforting hand on his arm. The Doctor smiled a little, he always liked a little bit of romance. No, concentrate! His own voice shouted in his head. He turned to Haim as he placed his thick-rimmed glasses on his face.

"Something's keeping the air in already. How long do I have until whatever it is goes offline?" Haim stroked his chin thoughtfully, looking from side to side.

"The emergency low level filters have been damaged but will hold for around one minute." Moira said to the Doctor with a sigh. "But they were not designed for a breach on this scale. You will have to amplify the range..."

"By bypassing the matrix feed relays and channelling the power straight in to the emitters!" The Doctor finished her sentence, bursting with energy. "Brilliant!" He replied, quickly grabbing the Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket, whirling around the various computer terminals, tapping keys and zapping various pieces of equipment.

"I need more time!" He shouted to Haim and Corl, still standing at the main terminal. Haim had a handheld communication device held to his ear as he relayed instructions to the various groups of people scattered across the facility. "Get them as far away from the edge of the dome as possible!"

"You can do it though, can't you Doctor?" Corl asked, tears slowly dripping down her face. "You can save them?"

"I'll try!" He replied, frantically rushing from monitor to monitor, placing the Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth as he typed at two keyboards simultaneously.

"He will save them." Moira said calmly, placing an arm around Corls' shoulder, the first sign of any emotion, other than annoyance, that the Doctor had seen her express. "The shield will activate before anyone runs out of air."

"Glad you have faith in me!" The Doctor said quickly, pointing the screwdriver at yet another set of controls. "But I'm not so su-" He stopped suddenly, as a dozen lines of text scrolled on to the screen in front of him, and the large image of the dome schematic was surrounded by a blue circle. "Yes!" He screamed, a huge grin on his face. "Got it!"

**

Ortel ran down the corridors, the screeching behind him almost drowned out by his own heavy breathing and footsteps on the grated floor. He looked back for a split second, just long enough to make sure Jaran was still behind him. The creature was closing in on them now, ripping the corridor apart as it came, its' wings slicing through the walls like a knife through butter. Sparks flew from the walls as it broke through cables and electronic equipment, but the creature was apparently un-phased.

It was marvellous, in a certain way, Ortel thought. If he ever got the chance, he'd have loved to study it, work out what it was, why it was here. His life may have been in security now, but his passion for science never really died. Even on his daily patrols with Jaran, Ortel would take note of all of the equipment that could be found in the labs, all of the stray objects that had slipped though the rift. It was the one thing that kept him going. Well, that and Jaran.

Their relationship was an uneasy one at first. Jaran seemed to resent Ortels' enthusiasm, but he always put it down to jealousy. Over time, however, the pair had developed a mutual respect for one another. Jaran appreciated Ortels' drive to try his best, whilst the older mans' dedication to his job, his life, was commendable in Ortels' eyes. Although they had become close, Ortel had never dreamed that they would be running for their lives together.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from in front of Ortel as part of the corridor gave way, ripped apart by another Reaper. It roared triumphantly, stretching its' wings wide as Ortel skidded to a halt. Jaran was right behind him, almost charging straight in to him.

"Well Sir," The young man, swallowed hard, "it's been a pleasure working with you."

"You're a liar Ortel." Jaran smiled, as the pair stood back to back, the Reapers closing in from both sides. They had slowed down now, purposely playing with their prey. "I find it hard to believe you ever enjoyed me barking orders at you."

"Well," Ortel replied cheekily, "I guess you're right. No more orders from now on though!"

"If that's what you think young man," Jaran said, his tone back to being gruff and serious. "I have one more order for you."

With no warning, he grabbed hold of Ortel, using the weight of his own body to throw them both in to a roll towards the nearest Reaper. Before he could work out what was going on, Ortel found himself having rolled beneath the large spiked wing on the beast so that both he and Jaran were behind it.

"Now run!" Jaran roared at Ortel as the Reaper quickly swooped around to face them again, the second one flying forwards to join it. Ortel remained frozen on the spot.

"No, not without you."

"I'll catch you up." Jaran barked, "Now Officer Ortel. Run!"

Jaran looked up at the approaching beast, its red eyes staring in to his own. This was it, this was what he had worked for. He was security, and he was protecting people. He stood tall, not faltering as he heard Ortels' footsteps echo behind him.

On the order, Ortel had turned away from Jaran and the Reapers, charging down the corridor as quickly as he could, knowing he couldn't look back. He didn't need too. He knew what was happening.

Officer Jaran's desperate screams of agony told him all he needed to know.


	4. Chapter 4

"Right then!" The Doctor beamed, his eyes bright with ideas. "Now that everyone can breathe, let's work on not being wiped from the time-line, shall we?"

"What do you mean?" Haim questioned. "Just what are those Reaper things, exactly?"

"You're a man of science, Geoffrey." He started, "So consider them like antibodies fighting an infection."

"An infection?" Moira snapped indignantly. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but something about those words offended her.

"A wound then." The Doctor shrugged, mostly ignoring Moira's outburst.

"A wound?"' Corl added to the conversation, looking just as puzzled as Haim.

"Yes!" The Doctor exclaimed, a hint of frustration in his voice. Why was it so hard to understand simple temporal physics? "A wound, a big ol' cut in time, oozing with energy. Like blood I suppose." He turned his nose up, shuddering a little. "Not puss though. Don't like puss. Ew."

"So these things are here because of some kind of distortion in time?" Corl said, disheartened. "I told you Geoffrey." She turned to her superior, her voice starting to crack little. "I told you there were some things that shouldn't be interfered with!"

"Is this true Doctor?" Haim also had a look of pain on his face, a look of guilt. "Is this our fault? Are these things here because of us?"

The Doctor looked at the pair in front of him. Not half an hour earlier, Haim had been so full of pride for his facility and his work, but now it looked as if that was all starting to fade. Hopefully the doctor could do something to ease that pain.

"I don't think this is your fault Geoffrey." He said kindly. "Unless you've come across any huge breakthroughs in the last hour that could possibly rip the fabric of space time," he paused for a moment, "you haven't, have you? Good." He added, as Haim shook his head. "This place has been here for years. If the Reapers were going to appear because of something you were doing, it would have happened years ago. No." He pondered for a moment, but was interrupted before he managed to speak.

"They are here because of something new." Moira said, in a rather monotone voice.

"Something new?" Corl muttered, her eyes dancing over the Doctor and Moira.

The Doctor winced. This was going to get awkward. He knew he hadn't been altering any timelines lately, not on purpose anyway. That just left Moira. There was no proof she had anything to do with it, but if the staff thought it was her fault, who knew what they might do? Haim and Corl seemed like trustworthy, nice people, but the Doctor had seen all to well how quickly humans could change from that in to something monstrous, something much more dangerous and unpredictable than many of the foes the Time Lord had faced.

A wave of relief washed over him as the communications panel buzzed in to life once again.

"This is Officer Ortel calling any available personnel." The young mans' voice hissed through the speaker, his breathing was heavy yet he remained calm. "I repeat, Officer Ortel to all personnel."

"Good afternoon Officer!" The Doctor said cheerfully, grabbing hold of the long microphone sat on the terminal. "Or is it good morning? Evening even?" He looked at his wrist before rolling his eyes. "Really must get myself a watch. Now," his voice suddenly went very serious. "First things first, what's your name? Your real name?"

"Travis." The voice replied. "Who am I speaking to?"

"It's the Doctor. You might remember me, long coat, nice brown suit. Lots of hair."

"The prisoner?"

"Well, not really." The Doctor replied. "But there's no time to explain. Are you ok? Where are you?"

"I'm heading towards the middle of the complex." Ortel gasped. "I think I've lost them, for now."

"They were after him?" Haim said, shocked before leaning towards the microphone. "Officer Ortel." The Doctor shot him a look. "Travis. What happened to Officer Jaran? Is he with you?"

"He was." Came the reply. "They got him. He made sure I could get away. But they got him. They killed him."

The Doctor was staring at the wall now.

"We'll make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain." He promised. "Keep moving Travis. Whatever you do, don't stop." He turned his attention to the large screen in front, pulling the Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket again.

"What are you doing now?" Corl inquired, trying to look over his shoulder.

"Busy." He replied, matter of factly.

"He's recalibrating the scanner outputs." Moira explained. "So that we can see where the Reapers are."

As she finished her sentence, four large red dots appeared on the schematic of the facility.

"Precisely." The Doctor smiled. "And looks like we are in luck. They're moving rather slowly, means that the anomaly must be rather small, in comparison."

Haim looked at the doctor, confused. "In comparison to what?"

"Erm, in comparison to there being several different versions of you in this room?" The Doctor shrugged. "Or if someone had altered the time lines so that everyone in the universe loved pears. Imagine that." He shuddered, drifting off slightly. "We'd all have to eat them. Eugh." He pulled a face of disgust. "Anyway! It means the Reapers are relatively slow and weak, which gives us a chance. We need to get moving."

"Where to?" Corl asked. "We are just as at risk anywhere else."

"The Time Core." Moira answered.

"First place I would look for a time anomaly!" The Doctor smiled. "Quite an expert, aren't you Moira?"

"I just know." She replied, sadly. Looking in to her eyes, the Doctor felt a pang of sympathy. He'd experienced memory loss before and knew how it could feel to not know who you were. This was different though. Moira was demonstrating knowledge of what the Doctor was going to say and do, of what was going to happen, almost like a dormant precognitive talent.

"Doctor!" Haim shouted suddenly, his attention on the screen. "They are heading this way! We need to move now!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself Geoffrey! The Doctor cried. "Allons y!"

He looked at the three blank faces staring back at him and sighed.

"It means," he gestured, urging them out of the room with urgancy. "'let's go'!" He enthused, rushing towards the door like a whirlwind, his coat billowing behind him.

**

"Keep moving!" The Doctor shouted behind him, noticing Moira had started to lag a little.

"Have you ever tried running in a dress?" Moira retorted, struggling to keep up in her long white attire.

"I'm not going to answer that!" He winked as he turned yet another silver corridor. "This place looks a lot smaller from the outside!"

"Maybe it is." Moira commented uninterestedly. She was much more concerned with not falling flat on her face on to the metal grating.

"Nah. Bigger on the inside?" The Doctor said cheekily. "Impossible."

"There has always been talk about that." Haim added to the conversation. He was keeping up with the Doctor quite well, much better than the Time Lord had expected. "It is as if the corridors change sometimes. We put it down to the Time Rift years ago."

As she listened, an image entered Moiras' head. A large circular room, the floor covered with the same mesh as was below her feet at that moment. It was blurry, but Moira could make out something in the centre of the room, running from the floor to the high domed ceiling.

She slowed for a moment, shocked by the sudden picture in her mind. Ever since arriving here things had popped in to her head, words mainly, but nothing as clear as this. Something told her it was important, but she didn't quite know why. Suddenly she was aware of an odd tingling sensation in both her hands, the same one she had felt when she had found herself in the facility.

"Moira!" the Doctor cried, running back towards her. He was looking down at her. How had she not realised that she had fallen? "We have to keep moving." He looked to Corl and Haim, who had also stopped running and were turning towards them. "No, Keep running. We'll catch up." The Doctor could tell that Corl was unconvinced by what he had said, but soon made her mind up as Haim took her by the hand and led her down the corridor.

"I know you'll probably tell me off for asking this," The Doctor said gently, helping the young girl to her feet, her hair scattered across her face. "but are you ok?"

She looked at the Doctor with her wide blue eyes, wanting to snap at him again, but something stopped her.

"I don't know." She said eventually. "I could see something in my head. A room, a big round room. And something happened there. Or will happen." She held her head. "I just don't know what."

"Moira," The Doctor said sincerely, "I promise I'll help you work al this out, but right now," He was cut off suddenly by a deafening roar from around then. The Doctor stood up straight, looking around him, but couldn't see anything.

That was until the corridor walls gave way, ripped to shreds by the clawed wings of the Reaper as it focused its' attention on the blonde girl. She looked up at it with fear in her eyes as the creature swooped towards her, it's wings spread wide and teeth bared, ready to strike.

**

Moira felt her body crash on to the floor once again as something propelled her from the side, knocking her clean over. There was an almighty roar and crash as the Reaper slammed in to the wall where Moira had been seconds earlier. She looked to her side, expecting to see the Doctor at her side on the floor, but he was still on his feet, bending down to quickly help her up. Puzzled she looked to her other side, to see Ortel sprawled beside her. As she rose to her feet, she hurriedly pulled him up with her.

"Go!" The Doctor ordered, as the Reaper recovered from its' slight injuries and turned towards them. "Nice timing Travis!" he added, noting the cut across the young mans' head. "Jaran would be proud."

"I know." Ortel gasped as he sprinted after the Doctor and Moira, not looking back at the monstrous creature behind him. He didn't need to look to know it was following them, even without the sound of the walls being ripped apart it is what he would have expected. A true hunter never gave up on its' prey.

The adrenaline was pumping through the Doctors' body, both of his hearts beating frantically as he powered down yet another identical corridor. If only they had the chance to stop running, maybe he would be able to get an idea of what was really going on here. At least the last time he had dealt with the Reapers he had known what was wrong with the time line but right now, the Doctor had no real clue. Well, that wasn't quite true, he had clues, just not very coherent ones.

And what was that Haim was saying about the size of the facility? He hadn't quite had time to take it on board before. Maybe he was becoming a bit close-minded, at first he had completely dismissed the possibility that the dome could be bigger on the inside. Now, however, his mind was overflowing with ideas. Haim had said that the Time Core was salvaged from wreckage found decades ago. Right now, the Doctor was wishing he had pressed for more information, He was hoping it was all a big coincidence, that it really was the Time Rift that was altering the staffs' perception of the size of the facility and the Time Core was made from various bodged pieces of Time Agent technology and some scrap. It had to be.

After all, the other option was impossible. Well, improbable. Very improbable.

The Doctor looked behind him, relieved to see that both Moira and Travis were still behind him, barely ahead of the Reaper. Looking back in front of him, he could see Haim and Corl standing waiting for them.

"I told you to keep moving!" he shouted, struggling to be heard over the roar of the Reaper and the crash of debris as the corridor was smashed apart.

"This is my facility." Haim replied back with authority. "And therefore the safety of my staff and guests is my responsibility."

"Very honourable Geoffrey," The doctor replied, mock saluting as he passed him, "but we have to keep moving."

"No." Haim stared at him as Moira and Ortel caught up and passed him. "You have to keep moving."

"Geoffrey?" Corl said in surprise as her senior stepped forward towards the Reaper and turned to the wall, pressing a number of keys on a control pad.

"No!" The Doctor let out an anguished cry as a silver door slid down in front of them, separating them from Haim who stood his ground, staring at the Reaper as it swooped towards him.

**


	5. Chapter 5

After what seemed like most of them like hours of running, Moira, Corl, Ortel and the Doctor charged in to a large room, evidently a lab, judging by the amount of abandoned equipment scattered on desks and over the floor.

"We can't stop!" Corl shouted, her eyes boring in to the Doctor.

"We have to." The Doctor corrected her. "We can't just keep running."

"They'll catch up." Moira continued. "We have to do something to slow them down."

"Yeah," The Doctor shrugged, glancing around the lab. "What she said. And where better to do something than a lab?" He picked up a tube from a desk, glittering wildly. "Ooh, that's pretty." Corl obviously wasn't convinced.

"Geoffrey died so we could escape!" She yelled, tears breaking through.

"So let's make sure it was worth it." The Doctor said kindly, looking straight at her. "You all go. Get to the Time Core. I'll slow them down and catch you up." From somewhere across the complex, a load roar echoed. "Hopefully."

"No Doctor." Moira objected. "We stay with you."

"No." The Doctor says firmly. "You," he pointed at them all in turn, "and you, and you, all have to go. I," he pointed to himself, "stay here."

"No!" The young girl shouted back indignantly. "That's not what happens! We can go, but he has to be with you!" The Doctor followed her hand, ending at Ortel.

"Me?" The young guard questioned. "Why? How can I possibly help?"

"You are in here everyday." Moira replied, very calmly. "Doing your job, but always paying attention. Always learning. Always thinking. You know what all of this does." She gestured around the room as the Doctors' face remained static.

"No. He goes. You all go. I can stop them."

"You're wrong Doctor." She continued, unmoving. "You need him."

The Doctor turned his head to Ortel, a strange cone like device in his hands, like a miniature traffic cone. The young man was looking at it intently, his eyes fixed with a look of concentration that the Doctor knew all too well. It was the look he had when he was thinking, his mind rushing with idea after idea after idea.

"Of course!" The Doctor exclaimed without warning, rushing towards Ortel and taking the cone from him. "Temporal manipulation field!"

"Focused in to a thin plane!" Ortel added.  
"Oh yes!" The Doctor yelled triumphantly, a wide grin on his face. "Time so focused, it becomes just like glass! A time window!" He paused, frowning a little as he spoke. "No, done that. Time Screen? Time double-glazed conservatory door? No, wait, wait." he was growing ever more frustrated with himself, his hand frantically playing at his hair. "That's it! A pane! A Time Pane! Right, let's get started, wasted enough time as it is. Travis, get started on the Time Pane! Ooh" He wriggled his shoulders, as if something was tickling them. "That gave me the shivers. Brilliant name don't you think?" He turned to Moira and Leslie, who were already heading towards the opposite door. "Yeah." He nodded, "That's it, carry on. We'll catch you up."

"She said we had to go." Corl said, turning to the Doctor. "And I get the impression that she knows what's for the best."

"Yes," The Doctor agreed solemnly. "It seems like she does."

**

"You two were close." Moira said, matter of factly, as she and Corl walked quickly down yet another identical corridor.

"Who? Me and Geoffrey?" Leslie blushed, looking rather sad.

"I could tell." Moira said softly. "But it's going to be ok."

Corl turned to her, a look of anger on her face.

"How can you say that? Geoffrey is dead. Jaran is dead. And they're not coming back. You seem to think that you know everything, so tell me! Tell me how all this is going to be ok?"

Moira stopped in her tracks, staring straight at the slightly taller woman.

"I don't know how," she muttered, "but I know it will be." He voice was starting to crack, slowly losing her composure. Corl looked at her wide blue eyes, wet with the first traces of tears.

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely, placing an arm around Moira's shoulder.

"I know." Was the only reply.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Moira said bluntly. "But there is where I am quiet and listen to you. You tell me about your life. You tell me how you always managed to fall on to the right path. How you believe in destiny." Moira stepped back from Leslie, suddenly. Corl was looking unnerved now, frightened even.  
"What is it? Moira, what happens now?"

"This is how," she swallowed hard, "This is when you name me."

"What?" Leslie replied, "What do you mean? How would I? Why would I…" She trailed off, her mind branching to a different track.

"Moirae." Moira said, closing her eyes, as if the word had just pushed itself in to her head.

"Of course." Corl said, shocked. "Moirae, the Goddess of Destiny. The old legends say that she holds the path of every living being in her hands, even the fate of the universe, and that nobody can change them."

"That's why you gave me this name." The girl said quietly. "That's why you called me Moira."

**

"Got those feeds plugged in?" The Doctor shouted across the silver floored lab, poking at a third cone-like device with the Sonic Screwdriver.

"Done!" Ortel replied, checking over a set of thick wires he had plugged in to a large generator-like device, which was humming with energy.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor beamed, observing their handiwork; a line of three cones set in front of where the Doctor was standing, all connected to the device across the room by a quartet of wires. "Simple, but effective." He span on the spot, facing Travis. "Just like humans!" He stopped abruptly. "Sorry, no offence." He received a smile back from the young man.

"None taken. Of course, some of just like to appear simple." He replied, coyly.

The Doctor nodded his head in agreement, a smirk spreading over his face.

"Quite right too."

Suddenly, the whole room began to shake as the roar or four Reapers filled the air.  
"Officer Ortel!" The Doctor cried, leaping in to action. "This is it! You know what to do!"

Travis was about to reply, but was cut off as the door of the lab was disintegrated in front of them, reduced to scraps of metal by the wings, teeth and tails of a Reaper. The officer took a deep breath at the sight of the familiar creature, followed by three more. They were all identical, in both size and colour, all screeching at the sight of the Doctor, their tails slashing as they approached.

"Hello!" The Doctor shouted over the deafening screeching that was filling the room. "I'm the Doctor. But you probably don't care about that. Why would you? You only care about cleaning up the wound. Now, I have no idea what it is that's bought you here, and I don't like that one bit." He shook his head, rolling his tongue in his cheek. "But what I like even less," he was raising his voice as the Reapers came closer. Were they doing this on purpose? Like a cat playing with their food? Or were they really listening? "What I like even less is that two people are dead. You killed them because they were protecting innocent people, people they cared for. But that's stopping." There was a tone of determination in his voice as he stared right in to the red eyes of the lead Reaper. "That's stopping right now!"

He stepped back as the creatures swept towards him at speed, all four sets of teeth desperate to devour him, to devour all of those years that he had lived for. But that wasn't happening. Not this time.

"Now!" The Doctor screamed as Ortel slammed his hand down on a lever connected to the humming device. "Hope you're as good as me!" He shouted, turning his attention back to the row of cone they had placed on the ground.

The Reapers continued to charge towards him, wings flapping wildly, knocking tables, monitors and various pieces of equipment to the ground, shattering most of it to pieces.

The Doctor stood his ground, watching, waiting.

Then it happened.

An almighty smack, as one Reaper after another collided with an invisible barrier, recoiling backwards with a roar.

"Oh yes!" The Doctor shouted in triumph as Travis came to join him, staring at the Reapers, harmlessly stalking on the other side of the barrier. "Time Pane! I really should trademark that one!" The Reaper's eyes were alight with fury, glaring at the pair, before one started to slash at the invisible barrier with its tail. "Hoped it would have taken longer for them to figure that one out." The Doctor winced. "We've got some time though!" He turned to Travis, his eyes wide with excitement. "Now! To the Time Core!"

"Alons y!" Travis replied, following the Doctors' billowing coat as he headed towards the door, leaving the Reapers to stare after their prey, knowing it was only a matter of time.


	6. Chapter 6

"I thought I told you two to run!" The Doctor shouted, catching sight of Corl and Moira ahead of him as he and Orel sprinted down the corridor. "I know I'm good," he looked over his shoulder just to make sure, "but better safe than sorry!"

Leslie and Moira stood planted on the spot, staring at him.

"Well? Going to run?" The Doctor said, amazed that they were still stationary. "Remember the big time eating monsters?"

"Doctor." Ortel added quickly.

"Not now Travis. Trying to save some lives. Get running."

"Doctor, we're here."

"What? Oh." The Doctor replied, smiling apologetically to Moira and Corl. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get inside!"

"We can't." Corl said, visibly on the verge of tears. "It hadn't even occurred to me. Geoffrey.."

"Leslie," The Doctor replied, attempting to comfort her. "We can mourn him later. But right now we need to end all of this." He contemplated saying more, about how, if this all went to plan he could bring Haim and Jaran back, but held back at the last moment. What if he couldn't? It wasn't fair to get her hopes up.

"It's not that." She sniffed. "There is only one key." She gestured to the large silver door behind her, a card reader on the wall next to it. "And Geoffery had it. That was the only one"

"Well," The Doctor beamed, walking across the corridor, his head held high. "You say that, but was it, really?"

"Yeah." Ortel confirmed. "Security measure. Only Mister Haim had access to the core."

"Bit of a silly security measure, don't you think?" He looked to Moira, who was staring at him, just as confused as the others. "You mean you've not worked it out yet?" He looked at her, a small grin spreading across his face. "That does make me feel better!"

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, her patience for him weakening.

"Well, we need to get through a door, right?" He turned, addressing all three of them.

"Yes." Corl replied sharply.

"And there's only one key, right?"

"Yes." Ortel was the one to reply this time.

"A key." The Doctor stared at Moira, looking at her neck. "A card key."

She looked at him for a moment, before following his gaze to her neck. What was he looking at? All that was there was her necklace.

A silver chain, with a rectangle attached.

A rectangle, which, on closer inspection looked as if it had been quickly attached to the chain, so it could easily be pulled off.

"You mean?" She said, disbelieving, pulling at the silver object as it came loose from the chain. "This? This is the key?"

"I think so." The Doctor nodded with a smile. "You've had it all this time!"

"It can't be!" Leslie exclaimed. "There was only ever one key!"

"Apparently not." The Doctor smiled again, as he took the object from Moira and twisted it about in his hands, a look of almost affection on his face.

"But how?" Moira asked quietly.

"Never mind that just now." The Doctor said quickly, leaping in to action. "We probably don't have much time before my," he corrected himself as Ortel shot him a look, "our Time Pane becomes nothing more than Time Shards. Ooh, I like that one too. Anyway," he reached for the door, key in hand, "let's see just what this Time Core is, shall we?"

The Doctor slid the card key in the door, resulting in a satisfying beep before the door released a soft hiss as it started to slide upwards. The Doctor stood, fidgeting with excitement, bouncing from side to side as the door slowly opened.

Moira watched him, the look of intrigue on his face, the excitement she could tell was building inside him. But somehow, it felt wrong. He shouldn't have been excited about what was through that door. What it was, she wasn't quite sure, not yet, but she knew they would all find out soon.

Eventually, the door had opened enough for the Doctor to go through, ducking a little, too impatient to wait for it to open all of the way. He reached for his glasses in preparation.

"Now then!" He exclaimed, "What do we have…"

He stopped slowly, looking around the huge room. The floor was covered with the same metal mesh as the rest of the facility, cables flowing together towards the centre of the room. To the large circular console, with the large glowing tube that ran all the way to the incredibly high ceiling.

"No." The Doctor shook his head. It had been an option, he knew that. He just wasn't prepared for it.

He stood still for a few moments, just taking it in. Cables had been twisted around the central column, the modifications made by whoever had found it all those years ago so that it could fulfil their needs, their needs to study what was meant to be forbidden.

"It really can't be." The Doctor shook his head slowly as Moira, Ortel and Corl stood by his side. "It really can't be."

"Doctor," Corl asked, concerned, "what is it?"

"It's a TARDIS. Your Time Core is made from a TARDIS."

**

"What is it?" Ortel said finally, breaking the silence. "What's a TARDIS?"

"The ship of the Time Lords." Moira answered. "Of his people."

"I thought they were all gone." The Doctor said as he ran a frustrated hand down his face. "I should have known! Agh! But I was so close minded! So last of the Time Lords, I didn't consider it a possibility. Not really."

"It's ok Doctor." Moira smiled, feeling compelled to place an arm around him. "Not even I knew that this was going to happen. The Doctor smiled back, taking her hands in his and turning them over her palms face up.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" He said softly, glancing at the marks on her hands, scored in to the skin.

"I think I've always known." She smiled solemnly. She glanced towards the console at the centre of the room, the TARDIS control panel, staring at two specific levers mounted on a board, which was apparently added by the humans who had scavenged the machine.

"Don't suppose you know what we do next then?" The Doctor shrugged. "I kind of expected some kind of disaster going on here, temporal energy flowing all over the place, fire, Bad Wolf, that sort of thing. But nothing. Not a sausage."

"Doctor." Ortel said suddenly, his tone obviously masking fear. "Listen."

"Well then!" The Doctor said loudly, vaulting over one of the handrails towards the console as he heard the shaking through the nearby corridor. "Seems like time is running out!"

Another almighty crash sent Corl flying to the floor, grazing her hand on the metal floor. Moira quickly rushed to her, helping her up.

"What did he mean?" She looked to the Doctor, his Sonic Screwdriver buzzing away over the various controls. "What does all this mean?"

"It means I'm it." Moira said, just as cryptically. Corl was about to respond when the whole room shook again.

"They're getting closer!" The Doctor grimaced, sparks flying from the control as he worked away on it. "I'm sorry." He said, looking up at the glowing column. "I'm so sorry.

"What are you doing?" Ortel asked, stepping closer to the Time Lord, who made no attempt to reply.

"Reversing the chrono-energy flow from the TARDIS." Moira explained, grabbing Ortel's arm, and pulling him away from the Doctor."

"Got it in one!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly. "Knew you would! Bet you knew you would too! Something is drawing those things here, so by reversing the energy flow, maybe I can manipulate it to appear as if everything's ok! All hunky dory!"

"No." Moira stated defiantly, striding towards the Doctor. "That's not what happens. And you know that too."

"It's what I'm going to make happen." The Doctor turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes. "I promise."

"No Doctor. You only promise me one thing."

"And what's that? The Doctor leaned forwards, his mind set.

"Promise me you will remember. Remember Geolera." With no warning, Moira lunged at the Doctor, throwing him to the floor away from the console, the metal key card and Sonic Screwdriver flying from his hands.

The Doctor looked up from the floor, completely shocked as he straightened his hair the best he could.

"You're determined, I give you that." The Doctor said, getting to his feet as he watched Moira hold the key to her necklace, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at them both. "You need to press the big button." He advised, watching as it glew, buzzing with power. "That'll do." He nodded as Moira looked down at her handiwork, the key and necklace reattached.

"Are you sure about this?" The Doctor looked at her, a serious look of concern on her face. Moira did not respond, instead throwing the Screwdriver back to the Doctor, who caught it with one swift movement.

"This is how it happens." She replied finally, turning to the console. "Here they come."

Ortel and Corl threw themselves away from the walls of the room as the now familiar roaring of the Reapers echoed around them, the wreckage of the walls crashing around them as they scurried away from the monstrous creatures. Each one was snarling fiercely, cracking their tails and wings, thirsty for the energy of time.

Moira blanked it all out. She knew she had to. She focused on the control panel in front of her, trying to remember what happened next. With a sudden realisation, she pulled at strange blue ball sat at the bottom of the console. Sparks flew from it, followed by a soft blue-green glow.  
"No." The Doctor shouted to her, looking over his shoulder as he stood with Corl and Ortel, backed against a metal handrail. "Stop it!" He cried, watching as Moira ripped more pieces from the console. "You're destroying the temporal regulators! The energy will go mad!" He looked back to the snarling Reapers as they swooped around the room, playing with him again.

The glow was increasing, but not as she had remembered. No pain, not yet. That was it! Moira looked down at a set of levers set in to the console, looking carefully at their shape as she held her hands out in front of her. The scars stared back at her, those mysterious scars.

Mysterious, until now.

She placed her hands on the levers and pulled quickly, her eyes closed. She knew what was coming, and braced herself for the pain.

With little warning, the console erupted in a bright light, full of blues, greens and yellows. The central column was pulsing rapidly now, screeching, almost screaming. Or was that her? She couldn't tell. Her hands were burning as the energy flowed through her, around her. She could let go, but knew she mustn't.

"This can't be it!" The Doctor screamed, over both the noise of the Reapers and Moira. "That energy is so volatile, so random! It couldn't possibly…Of course!" He ducked back under the handrail, glancing quickly at Ortel and Corl as they cowered from the Reapers. They were closing in now, apparently unphased by the temporal energy being unleashed in the middle of the room.

The Doctor stood tall, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver towards Moira.

"I told you it would make sense!" He shouted. "I don't like it, but it makes sense. Well, in a way." He paused slightly. "Well, not really."

"Don't!" Moira shouted at him. He was trying to stop her, she knew it. He was trying to change things. But they couldn't be changed. Such were the plans of Moirae.

It was then that it all became clear. At that moment, the only moment in her whole life, everything made sense. It hadn't before, and it never would again. There was only this moment. She understood all of it. Why she was here, how she had known it all and what the Doctor was doing. He was part of it. He was making it happen.

The energy seared around her, the pain so intense now. But it was almost over, she knew that. It was time. Time to say goodbye. He had done so little, but so much at the same time. Looking through the cloud of temporal energy that was surrounding her, Moira looked at him, the Doctor, the Lord ofTime, his face slowly fading away.

"Doctor!" Or was it her fading away? She couldn't quite tell. "Thank you!"


	7. Chapter 7

In a blink of an eye, it had all gone. The energy flowing from the console had subsided, the Reapers had vanished and Moira had gone. The only sign of her every having been there was the wrecked console, now just simply sparking.

Sighing, the Doctor placed his Sonic Screwdriver back in to his coat pocket and stepped towards the two humans who were helping each other to their feet.

"What did you do?" Leslie asked quickly. "What happened?"

"She was the wound." Ortel replied thoughtfully. "She was what was wrong, why those things were here."

"Yes." The Doctor nodded. "I, well, me and Moira, sent her back. Her part in this time line is done, over. Nothing but a memory."

"But where has she gone?" Ortel enquired. "Won't they just reappear wherever she ends up?"

"No." The Doctor shook her head. "Because I sent her back. The energy would have sent her anywhere, it was uncontrolled, random. Like you say, this whole thing could have happened again elsewhere, or she could have ended up in a black hole. So I did all I could."

Suddenly, Ortels' radio buzzed in to life.

"Officer Ortel? This is Jaran. Status report?"

"Nothing to report sir." Travis smiled widely, looking to the Doctor. "Just some temporal interference from the Rift. It has been stabilised."  
"They're alive!" Corl said excitedly, prompting the Doctor to place a hand on her shoulder, whispering in to her ear.

"They won't remember. No one else will. We were just so close to everything at the end, we're unaffected."

Corl gave a nod, pretending to understand completely.

"Lieutenant Corl?" It was the turn of her radio to crackle with activity. "I hear we have had some kind of incident?"

"Yes, Geoffe-Sir." She corrected herself. "We have everything under control."

"Ah, you and the Doctor?"

The Doctor smiled. He remembered him at least.

"Yes Geoffrey!" He beamed, grabbing the radio from the hands of a delighted Leslie Corl. "I took care of it! All sorted! No problems!"

"Thank you then, Doctor." Haim replied. "I shall see you in my office shortly. Haim out."

The Doctor handed Corl her radio, as he looked to the middle of the room, the butchered TARDIS console. Could he really just leave it here? He knew Geoffrey would not do anything to harm another living being, or even living machine, but what about his successor? Who knew what could happen if someone just a little bit cleverer got hold of it. The Doctor didn't like to think too much about it, but he knew it wouldn't be good.

"There's just one thing." Ortel interrupted his thoughts. "How did Moira get here in the first place?"

"The same reason she had that key." The Doctor shrugged. "She just did. I sent her back to where I found her. Then you and Jaran take us to Geoffrey, the Reapers break in, we do all that running, we make the Time Pane, we get here, I send her back to where I found her. Then,"

"I think I get it."

"That can't be it?" Corl questioned. "Surely she came from somewhere?"

"No." The Doctor said firmly. "I'd love to be able to explain it all, but Moira just exists. Anomaly, paradox, whatever you want to call it. Wibbly wobbly, timey whimey." He signed, wishing it really did make sense to him. "She just exists!"

Suddenly a voice echoed around the room, as the central column glew slightly.

"You know that is not true Doctor."

The voice was weak, as if in pain, a female, something ethereal about it. At first the Doctor thought it may have been Moira, but the voice was different.

"Who are you?"

He looked around, looking for a speaker, or anything, that could be broadcasting the voice. He found nothing. It was as if the voice was coming from the TARDIS itself.

But that was impossible.

Wasn't it?

"I am like you." Corl and Ortel looked around too, visibly shaken by the haunting voice surrounding them.

"What do you mean, like me?" The Doctor demanded, shouting at the central pillar. "How are you like me?"

"Doctor," there was a pause, as if the voice was in pain. "My name is Kali. And I am," there was another, longer pause. "I was a Time Lord."


	8. Chapter 8

The Doctor stood in silence, his gaze locked on the central pillar of the TARDIS, wrapped in a tangle of cables, the green glow it was emitting breaking through the gaps. He's experienced so much in his long life, good things, bad things, terrible things but there were some things he was never prepared for. He had spent so long thinking something like this, meeting another of his kind again, would never happen but then it did, all the way at the end of the universe. And after that, after the year that never was, the Doctor was even more convinced that it would never happen again.

But here he was. Standing in what had once been a TARDIS, being spoken to by a being who claimed to be the same as him. A Time Lord.

Suddenly the silence was broken.

"Doctor," Corl said softly, "who is she?" The Doctor turned to her quickly, attempting to keep his composure.

"Go." It was said in a harsh, commanding tone, one which shocked even the Doctor. "Please." He added, more kindly. "Please, go."

Corl looked as if she was about to argue, when Ortel put his hand on her arm and gave her a look.

"Doctor, take this." He handed the Time Lord the radio from his belt. "Just in case."

The Doctor nodded and gave the young soldier an appreciative smile as the two humans left the room, the silver door sliding closed behind them.

"This can't be." The Doctor gasped eventually, possibilities running through his head. "You just can't be."

"I am Doctor." Kali replied, her voice echoing around the room. "In a way."

"What do you mean? You said you were a Time Lord?"

"Yes. I was, once."

"Well, what are you now?" The Doctor was growing impatient. He was so used to being the one with all the answers, it just felt so wrong to be clueless.

"I'm just an echo." Kali replied. "A shadow of my consciousness burnt in to the heart of this TARDIS, All my thoughts, memories, all there. Just not my body. That's why you couldn't sense me Doctor. Because technically, as things go, I don't exist."

"But how?" The Doctor exclaimed, throwing his hands above his head. "A TARDIS has a link with its owner, sure, but absorbing their consciousness?" He realised he was growing confrontational, with no real reason. Maybe he was just used to arguing by now. "That can't happen." He shook his head, knowing that evidently, it had.

"You made it happen Doctor." Kali replied. Her tone was blunt, not angry or accusing, just stating the facts.

"Me?" The Doctor queried, his eyes wide. "How is this anything to do with me?"

"I was in my TARDIS when it happened." Came the reply. "When the last great Time War ended."

"When I ended it." The Doctor corrected sadly, as things started to piece themselves together in his head.

"You had to. It was the only way. I do not now how, but as I died a reaction occurred between my former self and this TARDIS allowing it to completely absorb my consciousness, integrating me in to itself."

The Doctor sighed deeply, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Why did it never seem to end? Why did the Time War keep coming back to him, to remind him of what had happened. Of what he had done. All his actions had seemed to do was cause death and destruction. Ultimately, they had done little good. The Daleks had returned time after time, through some loophole or another, yet the Time Lords were still gone. All that the war had left of them was the Doctor himself, who continued to run afraid to look back, the Master who had given his own life in favour of travelling with his enemy and the consciousness of Kali, trapped for so many years within the heart of a TARDIS. Granted, he had had some great times since the end of the war, but standing here now, the Doctor had to wonder if it was all worth it.

"Don't be." Kali reassured him. "It had to be done. The War had to end. None of this is your fault." There was a pause. "I didn't want to involve you. That's why I allowed the girl to exist."

"Moira." The Doctor said quickly, looking up at the pillar. "Her name was Moira."

"Quite." Kali replied. "I needed a way out. I want this life to end."

"And you'd end the lives of all of the humans on board too?"

"No. You don't understand." Kali interjected. "None of them would die. Those creatures feast on the energy within an individual, not the physical form. If they had reached me, this TARDIS would remain intact, it could have kept the humans safe, it would just be my consciousness that would be gone and that in turn would have made the creature vanish. I would be free, the physical shell of the TARDIS would remain intact and the humans would be safe."

"So why Moira? What has she got to do with any of that?"

"Very little." The reply was cold, uncaring. "All that was needed to summon the creatures was for a being to exist that shouldn't. After that I had no use for her."

"So you let her exist?" The Doctor challenged. "You let her exist, and now she's stuck in a loop. A loop that I had to create. She just keeps going round, keeps on running, keeps on suffering."

"I had to Doctor." Kali replied, unmoved by the Doctors' sentiments. "I just want to be free. No existence must be better than this existence. For years I tried to work out ways to escape from here, but each way involved the humans on board dying."

The Doctor looked at the console curiously.

"I got the impression that wouldn't bother you? After all they've done to you, to your TARDIS?"

"Of course it would Doctor. They don't deserve to die. They were only doing what they do best."

"And what's that?"

"Just being human. You of all people must understand that Doctor."

"Yes." He smiled. "I think I do. But why was Moira different?"

"Because without me, she would not exist She was a sacrifice I had to make. I just wanted to be free. It feels as if everything is slipping away. I've even started to forget what is like to travel through time, to fly through the vortex. I would rather not live than never fly again."

The Doctor looked up at the pillar with sympathy. He had been faced of the prospect of not travelling various times in his life, and each time it broke his hearts to think he would never experience that feeling of rushing through the Vortex, that feeling of stepping out in to a brand new time.

"I want you to know that I don't agree with what you did to Moira." The Doctor said sternly. "But I know why you did it. So I'm going to help you."

Suddenly the floor shook beneath the Doctor's feet.

"It's too late Doctor." The voice had faded a little. "I feel my time is running out. My song is ending. It had taken years to gather enough power to manipulate the Vortex enough to allow the girl, Moira, to exist. Just speaking to you is draining me. I'm dying. "

"You can't." The Doctor said loudly. It was an order more than anything else. "If you die this TARDIS dies with you, falls in to the Rift, along with the humans inside. And I'm not going to let that happen."

"There's nothing you can do Doctor." The complex shook again, more violently this time. "I can't hold it much longer. We are going to slip in to the Rift."

"I can use my TARDIS." He scratched his head. "If I get everyone on board,"

"There is not enough time." Kali interrupted. "You will not be able to get to it in time."

The Doctor was looking closely at the console now, circling around it studying the controls, and modifications that the humans had made.

"In that case," he said thoughtfully, "why run to one TARDIS when there's another right here. I've done quite enough running for one day anyway." He held Ortel's radio to his ear. "Geoffrey, it's the Doctor."

"Hello Doctor!" The voice buzzed back. "Everything ok I hope? There's been some shaking up here but I assume it's just because of the Rift,"

"It's fine." The Doctor interjected. "Now, Geoffery, listen. I need you to get everyone, and I mean everyone, to the bottom of the facility. Right to the bottom. Not the floor above the bottom, but the very bottom."

"But Doctor, it's just a maze of cables and pipes down there feeding the whole facility."

"Well, I'm sure they won't mind some company." The Doctor answered, fiddling with some controls on the console.

"I won't pretend I understand Doctor." Haim replied. "But I trust you. I shall evacuate everyone to the bottom of the facility immediately."

"Good man!" The Doctor exclaimed, shutting the radio off.

"What are you doing Doctor?" Kali's voice questioned as he buzzed around the console, flipping various switches and buttons frantically. Suddenly, she realised his plan. "You can't. It takes a crew of six Time Lords to pilot a fully functioning TARDIS, let alone one in this state of disrepair. Even then, it would be impossible." Her voice was growing weaker. "There is not enough power."

"Then I feed power from the rest of the facility, converting it through the circuits of the TARDIS." The Doctor muttered, busy with the job at hand.

"That needs at least two people. You can't do this on your own."

The Doctor stopped for a moment, his gaze back on the central pillar.

"I've had some practice. Now, just need some co-ordinates." He paused for a moment, before it struck him. "Oh yes! I don't know how you did it, but thank you Moira!"  
"What are you talking about?" Kali demanded. "There is no power, no nearby planets. You'll kill us all! It's hopeless."

"I like hopeless!" The Doctor placed a hand on a large lever, a wide grin on his face as he pulled it, full of energy. "Trust me Kali, even if it's just one more time, you're gonna fly!"

**

The sky was a beautiful blue, contrasting against the green of the grass, which seemed to stretch for miles. The area was unspoilt, untarnished by the large city which was looming in the distance. The wildlife was very similar to that of earth, as were the local plant life, which had made the planet an ideal choice for colonisation all those years ago. It had soon been decided to learn from the mistakes of the past and leave wide areas of the planet untouched by human hands, just left to natures doing.

Even the sounds of the city were inaudible here, just those of the tweeting birds and buzzing insects. And the loud groaning of ancient engines accompanied by an odd whistling noise. Birds scattered as the screeching grew louder and louder. Those curious enough to remain saw a large shape appear from nowhere. A large dome, wrapped with silver, a large hole crossing several sections of glass near the top. The sunlight reflected off the whole structure, creating a marvellous light effect.

It would not last long however. Moments later the noise returned to break the short lived silence, and the dome slowly faded away. However, left where it had so briefly stood were a large group of confused looking humans.

Corl let go of Haims' hand embarrassedly as the hundred or so uniformed individuals gazed around them at their new surroundings. How amazing, she thought. This was probably the first time some of them had seen such a sight. Untainted nature, a clear sky, a bright sun.

"It's gone." Geoffrey said looking her in the eyes. "I don't know what he's done, but it's gone."

"Are you ok?" She said, with genuine concern. She knew what the facility had meant to him, all of the work he had put in. "I know that place was your life." He smiled back at her.  
"You always said there were some things that we should leave well alone." He took her hand in his once more. "Besides, I can have a new life now." She looked up at him, as if she was unsure as to what he meant. "A new life here with you." He smiled. "Speaking of which, do we know where here even is?"

Corl looked around her, there couldn't have been a more perfect place. But how had the Doctor managed to find this place? How had he known?

Then it became obvious. The Doctors' final promise to Moira.

"I'm going to guess," Corl replied to Haim, looking to Ortel with a grin, "that this Geolera."

**


	9. Chapter 9

"Not got a hammer around here?" The Doctor shouted, stretched out over the console attempting to reach controls on either side at one time. "It's like I've always said 'always keep a hammer in your TARDIS.' But did anyone listen?" He looked around the control panel, as he tried to steady himself whilst the TARDIS shook from side to side, the sound of the engines turning to a screech. "Well, do you see any hammers? So no, they didn't listen. When will people learn? Just listen to the Doctor."

"You are just as I imagined Doctor." Kalis' pained voice echoed around the room. He looked up, still frantically working at the controls, the central pillar pulsing.

"Imagined me?" He said, puzzled.

"Of course. We all heard the legends of the Doctor." Kali continued. "Not that the Elders approved of course. You were referred to as a bad example."

"Well," he shrugged playfully, "that's me I guess."

"So confident, so compassionate. Always doing what he can for others."

"No arguments there." The Doctors' legs almost gave way beneath him as the TARDIS lurched violently. "Sorry, this might get a bit bumpy." He threw a lever and twisted a dial, as if trying to ignore the conversation.

"But under all of that, so lonely." Her voice was faint now, but the Doctor was sure he could hear a hint of compassion in her voice for the first time. "Even before we were all gone, always so lonely. They said that was why you took to travelling with humans, to see if that was what your life was missing."

"Just made a change, that's all." The Doctor lied through gritted teeth. "Those robes, the whole superior race thing? Got a bit old after a while."

"You are saying you are glad we are gone? Glad Gallifrey was destroyed?"

"No." The Doctor stopped, looking up to the domed ceiling. "Not at all. If I could bring you all back.."

"I know Doctor. But there are some things not even you can change. That's why you continue to do it, isn't it?"

"Continue to do what?" The TARDIS' shaking had calmed now, though the Doctor noticed the light of the column was beginning to dim.

"To travel, to search for knowledge. To just be you, the Doctor. The one who fixes people."

"I guess so." The Doctor shrugged. "It's what I do best after all."

"But sometimes," Kali said softly, "you can't fix everything."

"I can fix this." The Doctor said convincingly, although in his head he wasn't sure whom he was trying to convince.

"No Doctor. You have done enough. You have saved the humans, so now there is no more reason to keep this TARDIS alive. It is time to let me go. Your TARDIS will once again be the last in the Universe, and you the last of the Time Lords."

"No. Not again. Has it occurred to you that I might not want to be the last?" The Doctor cried, his emotions bettering his logic. "I can re-energise this TARDIS using my own, undo everything the humans did, fix the chameleon circuit! It might take some practice, but I'm sure you'll be able to control the TARDIS yourself one day! You'll be able to travel the Universe again!"

"It's not what I want Doctor." Kali replied. "How can I experience the Universe like this? I'll still just be an echo." The Doctor looked up at the column with sad brown eyes. "I'm not you Doctor. I can't take every bad situation and find good in it."

The Doctor felt the TARDIS begin to shake again and quickly scanned over the instruments.  
"No!" He cried. "You can't! You can't let go, we'll be sucked in to the Rift!" He turned from the console, towards the handrails, intending to go to some of the equipment set in to the outer wall.

"Not us Doctor." Kali replied, as the room was soon filled with the familiar sound of engines, a powerful screeching which echoed around the Doctor. After a few moments, the Doctor looked around in realisation as his surroundings began to change. One console room was changing to another, though the walls were pulsing, the Police Box doors fading from solid to transparent.

"No! No no no!" The Doctor looked to the console, but knew that it was useless at the moment as it faded in to existence. Looking around desperately, he ran towards the doors, but stopped, knowing better than to open them mid-materialisation.

"Thank you Doctor." Kalis' voice was so distant now, echoing through from her TARDIS to his own.

After wait seemed like an eternity the roar of his TARDIS engines stopped, the console room complete around him. He quickly threw the doors open, ready to stop Kali from doing whatever was she was doing, ready to save her. He wasn't too late, he knew it.

The old, disguised hinges creaked as he pushed them outwards. He moved to step out, but soon stopped as he saw the nothingness around him. There was only the distant shine of nearby stars and the large shimmering tear in space, the Rift. The Doctor rubbed his eyes, his head low as he sighed and closed the door. Striding towards the console, ideas were rushing through his head. He could fly the TARDIS in, find Kalis' TARDIS before it vanished completely and pull her out. Or he could try and pull her consciousness from the heart of the TARDIS in to his own, or maybe..

Or maybe, he thought, maybe he should just let her go.

A sullen look on his face, the Doctor looked up to the column of his TARDIS, placing his hand lovingly on the console before pressing at switches, firing the engines in to life. He moved from one section of the console to another, no sense of urgency, no spring in his step. He pumped the bicycle pump a few times and pressed a few more buttons before reaching for the hammer hanging from the console. He paused for a moment before hitting one of the controls. The machine lurched as he replaced it, before he looked back up to the pulsing column.  
"Just you and me then old girl?" He smiled slightly; throwing a lever as he headed off, back in to time and space. On his own, again.

**

The silver corridors reflected the light from the various pieces of equipment around her. How did she get here? This place seemed so familiar, yet so different at the same time. Everything did, including the man who was striding down the corridor towards her, his long brown coat trailing behind him.

"Hello!" The man grinned. "I'm the;"

"The Doctor." She interrupted. She hadn't meant to, something had just compelled her. "You're the Doctor."

**


End file.
